Former ATM technician sentenced to over 14 years for bank robbery and firearm offense

ORLANDO, Florida — U.S. District Judge Anne Conway sentenced Johnson Saint-Louis to 14 years and 3 months in federal prison for bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Saint-Louis, a 39-year-old from Deerfield Beach, was also ordered to forfeit a Ruger firearm and assorted ammunition used during the offense. A jury found him guilty on May 30, 2024, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Evidence presented at trial revealed that Saint-Louis, a former ATM technician, tampered with ATMs serviced by his former employer across the southeast. On February 16, 2021, he robbed a bank in Longwood by manipulating the drive-thru ATM to malfunction. When the ATM technician arrived to fix it, Saint-Louis, dressed in dark clothing and wearing a mask and gloves, confronted him with a firearm. He forced the technician to his knees and transferred approximately $135,530 from the ATM vault into a backpack.

The FBI, along with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and the Tallahassee Police Department, conducted the investigation. On November 4, 2021, deputies observed Saint-Louis traveling to various bank locations in Seminole County. During a traffic stop, they found a firearm with black tape covering its serial numbers and several pieces of paper listing bank branch locations in Jacksonville, annotated with notes about the ATMs.

Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel S. Lyons and Chauncey A. Bratt prosecuted the case. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence by fostering trust in communities, supporting community-based organizations, setting strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring results.